2016-08-01_PERMIT FILE - C1981010A (14)

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Agropyron elongatum tall wheatgrass Tall wheatgrass has been found to produce adequate stands of grass on saline - sodic soils in Nevada. It has the ability to germinate and establish in soils with a pH as high as 10. The palatability of tall wheatgrass is low for sheep. It will therefore be an adequate stabilizer of saline -sodic sites. However, it does not tend to dominate sites when seeded in a mix. In fact, tall wheatgrass should not be considered a strong competitor except in saline -sodic situations (Valentine, 1974). The Vaughan-Jacklin Corporation, a seed supplier, described tall wheatgrass as being a tall bunch grass suitable for either dry or wet saline -sodic soils. In addition, it produces an abundance of fibrous roots to aid soil stabilization. According to their site adaptation maps, the species is suitable for northwest Colorado. • The Soil Conservation Service (USDA, 1977) highly recommends that tall wheatgrass be included in a seed mix for Zone VII. Zone VII roughly corresponds to the lower elevations of Trapper Mine (Figure 3.6-1). Elymus junecus Russian wildrye Russian wildrye, an especially hardy bunchgrass, was introduced from Russia. It is well suited to a great variety of sites on game ranges. It has shown unusual adaptation to the greasewood and saltgrass types, and is well adapted to calcare- ous soils from valley bottoms up through the mountain brush type. It grows best in openings and light shade in the mountain brush type. It is not well adapted to the dense shade of Cambel oak and other tall shrubs; but it grows well as an understory in the lighter shade of greasewood, big sagebrush, and rubber rabbit - brush in the alkaline lowlands. In fact, it is more productive in association with these shrubs than without the association. Both game and livestock espe- cially prefer its basal growth, and it is among the first forages 3-140